…a Toronto music blog as random as its name.

Tag Archives: in the city

Caveman‘s dreamy self-titled sophmore album warms with its atmospheric synthesizers and rich harmonies. Nowhere is that more apparent than on stand-out track “In The City” which quickly has become my favourite song of the summer.

Based out of New York, the band has a sound that will hopefully take them far. Though their strengths do often shine through, it is a lack of variety that holds back this most-recent album back from reaching that next level. With that said, there is a lot to love. Here’s our conversation with with lead-vocalist Matthew Iwanusa:

You played a show in Toronto last month! How’d it go? Any highlights?
Toronto’s great! I ate some amazing sushi. But I think the highlight was our good dude Mikey Jones playing with Snowden. They got added to the show so we got to see him. It was great!

I was surprised to see Julia Stiles in your slick video for “In The City”. How’d that come into being?
I met her through some friends. She likes the band and we thought it would be the perfect fit. I’m really happy she did it. It turned out great!

I saw you play at SXSW 2012. Since then, I feel your sound has broadened to an almost anthemic level, what’s precipitated that change?
That was a fun show. I remember my monitor was completely blown out so I could barely hear anything. We’ve played a lot since then. A lot of it has to do with the way we react to each other. Everyone gets excited about what each other plays. We care about a big sound.

What’s the inspiration behind the name Caveman?
They paved the way.

How have you felt like your past experiences in other bands have helped/hindered your progress as a unit?
Our other bands had a real drive just like this one. I think they helped us understand ourselves as musicians. We were all in bands that were at different levels so everyone brings something different to the table.

It’s hard to stand out in a scene like New York’s, how have you been able to overcome that?
Not really worry about it. There’s a lot of great music and musicians in NY. If you accept it, it works to your advantage. No reason to get down about it or over think it.

What are albums that you guys currently have on rotation while on tour?
Well we probably listen to the Stone Roses at least once a day. I’ve been listening to this Jacco Gardner record a lot and I love the DIIV record. Throw some Tears For Fears in there and you’re at the next city.

Freestyling is an important form of expression in hip hop. If you had to freestyle four lines about your new album, what would you say?Listen to my shit.
It’s what you want to hear.
Then come hang after.
Help us load out the gear.